The present disclosure relates to systems and methods of coating articles and, more particularly, to schemes for immersion dip coating articles in a process tank containing a zinc rich coating material. Although specific reference is made herein to zinc rich coating material, it is contemplated that the present invention will also have applicability to a variety of coating processes utilizing a variety of coating compositions.
In many applications, corrosion resistance of both ferrous and non-ferrous metals is important. Corrosion can result in weakened structural integrity and/or may be detrimental to the visual appeal of the corroded structure. In many applications, such as automobile manufacturing for example, there is a constant push to reduce the overall weight of the finished product. With automobiles, a reduction in curb weight reduces the amount of raw materials needed for manufacture as well as potentially improves fuel economy. However, optimizing designs to minimize material usage also increases the requirement for corrosion performance to prevent degradation of the substrate due to corrosion.
One technique to increase corrosion performance is the application of a corrosion resistant coating. However, release of volatile organic compounds traditionally limits the ability to use a high VOC coating material. When using a high VOC coating material, the overall capacity of the coating machine has traditionally been limited to minimize total volatile organic compounds, which are released. For increased capacity, other VOC mitigation techniques have been required. One such VOC mitigation technique has been regenerative thermal oxidation processes. However, limiting the capacity of the coating machine or use of methods, such as regenerative thermal oxidation processes, have not been economically sustainable techniques.